Rabbi Frederick L. Wenger, of Rock Island, Illinois, was elected Rabbi at Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, on February 22, 1987.
Rabbi Wenger began his rabbinate twenty years ago as an Army Chaplain serving in South Carolina and Vietnam. Upon completing his Chaplaincy, he returned to serve as assistant Rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El B'Ne Jeshrun, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he met and married Rochelle, a Milwaukee native. They have two children, Haim and Miriam.
After a year spent in further studies in Jerusalem, Rabbi Wenger has served progressively more responsible Rabbinic posts, as first Rabbi at B'nai Sholom Congregation, a merged synagogue congregation in Overland Park, Kansas, and Temple Beth Israel, Skokie, Illinois.
Before coming to Salt Lake, Rabbi Wenger served as Vice Chairman of the Huntington Human Relations Commission and taught religious studies at Marshall University. He has also served as the Secretary of the Northwest Suburban Synagogue Council in the Chicago area, and the Black-Jewish Relations Task Force of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. Here in Utah, Rabbi Wenger has served on the Martin Luther King Human Rights Commission, the Religious Freedoms Committee, of the Utah State Legislature and may other civic organizations. He also sits on the Boards of all major Jewish organizations in Utah.